The present invention generally relates to general purpose utility lighters, such as those used to ignite candles, barbecue grills, fireplaces and campfires.
Lighters such as those used for igniting purposes, for example, relying on a fuel container, have developed over a number of years. Typically, these lighters use either a rotary friction element or a piezoelectric ignition device to generate a spark in proximity to a nozzle emitting the fuel. Piezoelectric ignition devices have gained universal acceptance because they are simple to use. One such piezoelectric ignition device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,697 (the ""697 patent). The disclosure of the ""697 patent is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Lighters have also evolved from the small pocket lighters to several forms of extended lighters that are more useful for general purposes, such as lighting candles, barbecue grills, fireplaces and campfires. Earlier attempts at such designs relied simply on extended actuating handles to house a typical lighter at the end. Examples of this design are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,259,059 and 4,462,791.
In addition, many of the general purpose lighters have had some form of shut-off mechanism for resisting undesired operation of the lighter by young children. Often, these mechanisms take the form of on/off switches that may shut off the fuel source or may prevent movement of an actuator, such as a push-button, on the lighter. Moreover, the on/off switches that must be affirmatively moved by the user between the xe2x80x9con xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d positions have drawbacks. For example, an adult user may forget to move the switch back to the xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d position after use, thereby allowing undesired operation.
One solution that overcomes the drawback of a user forgetting to return the on/off switch to the off position is to utilize a biased latch that only allows operation of the lighter when the latch is moved into a position out of interference with the valve actuator. Once the valve actuator is depressed and released, the latch returns to its inoperative or latched position automatically so that subsequent use of the lighter again requires moving the latch out of interference with the valve actuator. Examples of such a device are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,445,518 and 5,584,682.
Other utility lighters incorporate a pocket lighter only as a fuel source and have an actuating trigger and child-resistant mechanism, in addition to the pocket lighter""s actuating mechanism. An example of this design is illustrated in GB 2,156,499A.
There remains a need for a utility lighter that can directly utilize the fuel, the push-button and/or child-resistant mechanism from a pocket lighter.
It is one object of this invention is to provide a utility lighter capable of resisting undesired operation.
Another object of the invention is to incorporate a pocket lighter into a housing to form a utility lighter.
Another object of the invention is to utilize the actuating mechanism of the pocket lighter as the actuating mechanism of the utility lighter.
A further object of the invention is to utilize the child-resistant mechanism of the pocket lighter as the child-resistant mechanism of the utility lighter.
Another object of the invention is to utilize the actuating mechanism and the child-resistant mechanism from the pocket lighter as the actuating trigger and the child-resistant mechanism of the utility lighter.
Another advantage of the invention is that the housing of the utility lighter may have any interchangeable aesthetically pleasing shape, so long as the housing is adapted to incorporate the pocket lighter.
These objects and advantages and other objects and advantage are accomplished in a flame producing apparatus comprising a body, which is sized and dimensioned to receive a lighter and is connected to a wand. The lighter comprises a piezoelectric ignition device and a fuel source in fluid communication with a valve movable between a closed position and an open position. The valve and ignition device are actuatable by a push-button to selectively release fuel and to produce a spark. The push-button is sized and dimensioned to extend through a cut-out portion on the body for user manipulation. The flame producing apparatus further comprises an inner tube disposed within the wand and is in fluid communication with the valve of the lighter and a nozzle. The wand and the inner tube are electrically coupled to the ignition device such that the spark is produced proximate the nozzle when the ignition device is actuated.
The lighter is preferably a child-resistant lighter, which may comprise a latch member movable between an inoperative position where the latch member interferes with the actuation of the push-button and an operative position where the latch member does not interfere with the push-button. In the inoperative position, the latch member is positioned between the push-button and the lighter housing to interfere with the actuation of the push-button. Furthermore, the body of the flame producing apparatus may also define a second cut-out portion sized and dimensioned to expose the latch member of the child-resistant lighter for user actuation.